REMEMBERING THE LORD'S DAY
Do you live with a fervent desire for the Sabbath rest? If our obedience to the law of God is to be honest obedience, true obedience, the reflection of a spiritual life in Christ, that is the question we must face this morning. For one prevalent thought must most certainly be trashed, and that is the thought that we have obeyed God's law in the fourth commandment, if only we have gone to church on Sunday. We have seen that the purpose of the law is not in any sense to merit righteousness with God. We don't keep the law merely out of a sense of obligation, or fear of the consequences that follow from disobedience. Rather, we stand before the law as Christians, as redeemed, as those delivered from the bondage of sin and death. Therefore that law is a light upon our pathway, a guide to that life that we want to live as an expression of thankfulness to God Who has saved us. So we view this fourth commandment also. The Sabbath rest, for us, is far more than an obligatory appearance in church on Sunday. This worship, even if it is true worship, is only the beginning of the Sabbath rest. And that is evident from our Heidelberg Catechism's exposition of the fourth commandment.
It is striking that the Catechism, in its treatment of this commandment, doesn't even mention the negative part which forbids Sunday labor. You remember from our reading of the law that the fourth commandment emphasizes that on the Sabbath day we shall not do any work. Six days thou shalt labor; but not on this day. In fact, you may not even have employees doing work for you on the Sabbath day. So says the law of the fourth commandment. But the Catechism doesn't even mention that. Now, don't misunderstand. The Catechism, by not mentioning Sunday labor, does not mean that the negative part of the law no longer applies. There is not approval given to working on Sunday. Not at all. But the approach is entirely different. The approach is positive. It isn't to say, "Don't." Rather, it tells us that we are to be so busy in other things on the Lord's Day, that we don't have time for work. And we don't have time even for earthly pleasures. What could keep us so busy on the Lord's Day? This, beloved: Enjoying fellowship with our God through Jesus Christ, and laboring to enter into the spiritual rest which He has given us on the Sabbath day, which, since Christ, is now the first day of the week. With that brief overview, I now call your attention to the fourth commandment under the theme:
REMEMBERING THE LORD'S DAY
I. A DAY OF REST
II. A DAY FOR HOLINESS
III. A DAY SORELY NEEDED
IN EXODUS 31, GOD GAVE INSTRUCTION TO ISRAEL SAYING, "SIX DAYS MAY WORK BE DONE; BUT IN THE SEVENTH IS THE SABBATH OF REST, HOLY TO THE LORD."
That thought is confirmed by the example which God Himself gave us in His creation work, where in six days He accomplished the entire work of creation, and rested on the seventh day. What is the idea of the rest to which we are called on the Sabbath? When we think of rest, we probably think of some form of relaxation, perhaps even taking a snooze. Maybe we think of sleep. But that is not rest. And that certainly is not the idea of the Sabbath rest. It cannot be, for we are told in Scripture that God never slumbers and never sleeps. His rest does not take on that form. Not at all. Furthermore, we are told in Hebrews 4 that there remains a rest for the people of God, to which we look forward and for which we long.
The idea of the Sabbath rest is really that we may enter into a perfect work and enjoy it. That is the Sabbath rest. It points to a perfect work. And in that perfect work we enter with all the enjoyment of body and soul. You see, also here we have a matter where a concept is far more significant than what we might make it by looking at our own lives. If we are going to ask the question, "What is rest," and then look at ourselves for the answer, we are going to fall far short when it comes to the meaning of the Sabbath rest. God, after all, is the prototype of all rest. He is the One Who instituted the Sabbath day, and revealed His own life as the example for us entering its rest. What is His prototype? It is this, first of all, as explained in the fourth commandment itself: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
We have contemplated God's creation work many times. In our consideration of the Book of Genesis, we spent time in the first chapters of that Book, standing in awe before that magnificent work of God which prepared, as it were, the stage of our existence and the gathering of His Church. But we also have learned from Scripture, and considered it in Lord's Days 9 and 10 of the Heidelberg Catechism, that God upholds and governs all things sovereignly and constantly. There is nothing that takes place in this creation that is outside God's sovereign control. That means that God is never idle. He never ceases to work. He is always accomplishing His purpose, moving all things toward the end that He has in mind. Not for a moment does He stop working. But at the same time, God always rests. And His rest is revealed in what He did on the seventh day of the creation week. There He entered into the enjoyment of His own perfect work. That is God's rest.
Now, understand, God revealed Himself in such a way for us. We must not think that God needed to take one day for the enjoyment of His perfect work. He enjoys His perfect work every day. Everything He does, He does for His own glory and enjoyment. Everything He does, He does for that purpose. And therefore He constantly enters into the enjoyment of His own perfect work. But He revealed Himself in such a way for our sake, that we also may enter into the rest which He has ordained for us, His redeemed people, and that we might do so in a special way during a day set apart for that purpose.
NOW WHAT IS IT FOR US TO ENTER INTO A PERFECT WORK AND ENJOY IT?
What is that perfect work? It is not a work of our own. Ours is no perfect work. There isn't a work that we do that isn't corrupted with sin. The perfect work into which God calls us to enter is His work. Deuteronomy 5 explains. After telling us that the Sabbath is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God, God gives the command that in it we shall not do any work, in order that we, our families, and any who are our servants, may rest. But He then explains that rest, when He says in verse 15: "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day." The purpose of the Lord's Day, therefore, the entire Sabbath day, is to enter into the enjoyment of the salvation that God has given us. Let me repeat that. It is very important that we understand this: The purpose of the Sabbath, and the meaning of the Sabbath rest, is to enter into the enjoyment of the salvation that God has given us.
That salvation, don't forget, was pictured in the Old Testament just before the giving of the law, when God brought His people out of the bondage of Egypt, where they were under the oppression of Pharaoh. The history of that deliverance our children will remember from their Bible stories in the home, and from their studies at school and in Catechism. But what is important about that history is that it represented something. And what it represented was the deliverance from the bondage of sin and death by the wonder of God's grace. God, in leading His people through the midst of the Red Sea on dry ground, and subsequently drowning Pharaoh and his hosts in that same Red Sea, delivered His people in a way which signifies the same deliverance now signified in baptism. That salvation is not merely something outward. It isn't that the water of baptism itself somehow magically works salvation. Rather, that signifies the salvation that is only through faith in Jesus Christ, and in His cleansing blood. So that salvation, which we also enjoy, is God's mighty work of sovereign grace, by which He has delivered us from the bondage of sin and death, and has given us new life in Christ. And by that new life in Christ, we are not only delivered from death and hell, which is the wages of sin according to Romans 6:23, but we are taken into the very fellowship of God Himself! The enjoyment of God's perfect work, the entering into fellowship with the Triune God, is the rest which is ours particularly on the Sabbath.
That we may enter that rest is something special, people of God. We believe in the Triune God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That isn't just an abstract doctrinal truth to us, but a truth of very practical and personal implications. The Triune God, being three distinct Persons in one Divine Being, lives a perfect life of fellowship and love within Himself. He didn't need us. The unity of the Godhead is characterized by perfect fellowship and love, self-sufficiency and independence. But when God saves us, He takes us into His own life! He takes us into the enjoyment of His own covenant life of fellowship and love, His family life as it were. To enter into His rest on the Sabbath day is to enter into fellowship with our God in such a way that we enjoy His love and fellowship, and receive a taste of the riches that are ours in belonging to Him. Do you know that rest to which God calls His people? Do you desire it? Do you enjoy it?
The Sabbath is not for everyone. The last verses of Isaiah 57 tell us that "the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." There is no Sabbath rest for those who are outside of Christ. There is no desire for the Sabbath rest. Where there is not a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, there is no desire for the Sabbath rest. There is no desire for the house of God. There is no longing to hear Christ in the preaching of the gospel. There is no pleasure in fellowship with those who are members of the body of Christ. Then one rather works and makes money, or seeks his forms of entertainment and pleasure, or sits at home and does his yard work and pursues his hobbies and watches his football games. That we may enter into the rest of the Sabbath, and that we desire that, is something special.
The Catechism speaks of this day of rest as the beginning of the eternal Sabbath. That means there is more to this rest than what we enjoy here and now on the first day of the week. That is evident in what we read from Hebrews 4. We who have believed do enter into rest, we are told. That is our experience too, isn't it, beloved. But we know instinctively that there is more. We know that instinctively, I say, as those who have the life of Christ. We know there must be more to that rest, than what we now enjoy. And that is confirmed by the inspired writer to the Hebrews. He points to the development of that Sabbath rest. Especially does he emphasize the importance of hearing the preaching for the enjoyment of that rest. There have been many who have failed to enter in because of unbelief. They heard the preaching which calls us to that rest, but they closed their ears to it. The word preached did not profit them, we are told, because it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it. But God, Who will take His people into His rest, continues to send forth His gospel. So we are told that He said through David — and the reference is to Psalm 95:7 — "Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." For you must hear His voice, in order to enter into His rest. Though in the Old Testament Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, that land was only the typical land of promise. It was only a picture of the rest that belongs to the people of God in His fellowship. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."
We sometimes speak of the Sabbath rest as the foretaste of everlasting glory. That's what it is, beloved, when we are truly entering into that rest. When the first day of week is for us the day in which we experience in a special way the fellowship of our God, the day in which we enjoy His conversation with us, His instruction, His gospel; when that day is the day in which we gather with His people to remember His mighty work of grace with us and to glorify Him as the body of the redeemed, when we are focusing our whole-hearted attention upon Him, to the praise of the glory of His grace, then we are enjoying a foretaste of heaven. That is the Sabbath. That's the day of rest.
THAT IS WHY IT IS A DAY SET APART FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. There are those who like to quote a passage like Mark 4, where Jesus says, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath," as if Jesus meant to say that we now have the freedom to do what we will on the Sabbath. But let us not forget, our freedom is not in self-seeking, but in serving God. So He continues to say, "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." We keep the Lord's day holy by using it unto the Lord.
Thus the truth of this law, as set forth also in the Old Testament, is maintained by Christ in the New Testament. So important is this day, as we read in Exodus 31 (vss. 13-17), that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is the sign between me and the children of Israel for ever." That holiness of the Sabbath was emphasized many years later, when the Lord had Jeremiah prophecy in Jeremiah 17, "if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day...then will I kindle a fire...and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." But in Isaiah 58 to him who would maintain the sanctity of the Sabbath, not doing his own ways, nor finding his own pleasure, nor speaking his own words on Jehovah's holy day, but calling the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable, the promise is graciously proclaimed, "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it" (Isaiah 58:14).
THE CATECHISM EMPHASIZES FROM A POSITIVE POINT OF VIEW HOW WE SET APART THE SABBATH DAY AND MAKE IT HOLY.
We do so in connection with our membership in the body of Christ, His Church on this earth. We do so particularly in worship, and all that is connected with worship of Jehovah our God. If the character of the Sabbath day is that of entering into fellowship with God by contemplating the revelation of Himself in Holy Scripture, it is obvious that the heart of this day is found in the ministry of the Word. When at this time of the year we think about the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, under the leadership of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Bucer and John Calvin, to name just a few of the more prominent men whom God used, then one thing was common to all of them in their leadership in the Church, and that was their common emphasis upon the importance of the preaching of the gospel. The preaching must always receive the primary emphasis in the Church's worship. From a positive point of view, that is the focus of the fourth commandment, as is evident in Lord's Day 38.
Notice how the instructors begin their answer to the question: "What does God require in the fourth commandment?" "First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained." That is, if we are going to continue to enjoy the Sabbath rest into which we are called to enter, the chief focus of our life with regard to the Sabbath must be to maintain all that is necessary unto faithful preaching — from the faithful and zealous support of God's faithful servants, to the sound instruction of students for the ministry in the seminary, right down to the faithful instruction in godliness of children in our Christian schools, that with all godliness they might also, by God's grace, show themselves a Sabbath people unto the Lord our God.
But then also our calling in keeping the Lord's Day holy comes to expression by our diligent use of the means of grace. Living in obedience to the fourth commandment means that we diligently frequent the church of God. On the Lord's Day, we are found in the house of worship, in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, joining in the worship of Jehovah our God. It is impossible for one to honor the Lord's Day in obedience to God, when he neglects to gather for worship when God so calls His Church to gather. We are reminded in Hebrews 10 not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. When the Church gathers for worship, and whenever she gathers for worship, you and I are called to the assembly of that worship service. So important is that calling, that the writer to the Hebrews immediately adds, "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
In this connection we ought to note with alarm a couple things that have become increasingly common in our day. The first is the common practice, although not so much in our own churches yet, to attend worship services only once, and to then use the rest of the day for personal pleasures. There has been a steady deterioration in the churches of the Reformation from this point of view. It was common practice in the churches of the Reformation, both Lutheran and Reformed, to worship twice and often even three times on the Lord's Day. In most churches where worship services are still held twice, attendance at the second service is minimal — a sad commentary on the spiritual state of the churches, and the lack of spiritual desire for fellowship with God. Where there is any evidence among us of such neglect of the means of grace, it must be addressed, for the sake of the Church. Where there is a lack of desire to attend worship services, there is clear evidence of a deep-seated spiritual problem that must be discussed with the person or family involved.
The second matter that I would call to your attention in this connection is the increasingly prevalent practice to take vacations which take us away from God's house and the worship which takes place on the Lord's Day, or to travel on Sunday without regard to worship. Why do we see this, beloved? Would we disobey the fourth commandment once or twice a year? Well, how the seventh commandment? or the sixth commandment? Our Catechism reminds us that Reformed Christians will be sure to be in God's house on the Lord's Day, wherever they are. Listening to a tape can be no substitute for worship in the church of God, and publicly calling upon the Lord. Perhaps we enjoy camping. Will we give more consideration to whether the campground has showers, than to where we might worship on the Lord's Day? Because our weekly spiritual nourishment is so critical, we must be fed. We must be fed with the pure gospel of life. And because God requires of us assembling with the saints, and the offering of pure worship, we will look to worship on the Lord's Day in a church where we will be fed and where our great God will be honored. And if any would say, "Well, I can get by for a week or two without being fed," we must respond that the approach must be different. The real question is this: Is God pleased by our worship? After all, our priority must not be ourselves, but God. Is God honored by this activity?
But then we must also understand that it isn't a mere appearance in church that is necessary for the obedience of the fourth commandment. We are diligently to frequent the church of God to hear His Word. Let us understand, beloved, when we neglect to hear, when we fail to give diligent attention to the preaching of God's Word, we fail to enter the rest of the Sabbath day. With bold defiance we tell God by our actions of inattentiveness that His Word doesn't mean much to us. What a terrible testimony that is! In obedience to God in the fourth commandment, we diligently frequent the Church of God to hear His Word.
And to use the sacraments. He Who has commanded, "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy," has also enjoined all those who confess His name, "This do in remembrance of me; for as oft as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." Likewise we are to give full attention to the sacrament of Holy Baptism when it administered. It is God's appointed means of grace, given to strength and confirm the faith that is worked by the preaching of the holy gospel. Then also, as the Catechism points out, we are publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor. Those acts also belong to the Church's worship of Jehovah which He requires of us on the Lord's Day. And all are required of us, in order that we might enter into the Sabbath rest, and enjoy the fellowship of God in a special way on the first day of every week.
WE NEED THIS REST BECAUSE WE ARE WEARY AND HEAVY LADEN.
Do you live in that consciousness? There are those, we are well aware, who say that this commandment isn't necessary for us any more. If we think of the dikes that hold back the waters in the Netherlands, then we may say that the fourth commandment is God's dike, the day in which He holds back the flood of worldliness so that His people might enjoy His fellowship. But today there are holes in that dike, and in some instances massive breaks. Why is that? We have spoken on an earlier occasion about the place of the law in the life of the Christian. We have seen that the law of God embodied in the Ten Commandments is unchangeable. The fourth commandment is part of that unchangeable law of God. And yet in our day, there are multitudes — and I speak of those within the Church, to whom the law is addressed, even in Reformed Churches, and it appears sometimes even among us — who act as if this commandment doesn't even apply to them today. Why is that? Would we be those who pick and choose the commandments that we would obey?
More pertinent is the question: Are we thankful Christians, those who live in the consciousness of the joy that only comes in fellowship with the living God? Are we those who have seen the wonder of that salvation which is ours only by the grace of God in Christ Jesus? Then we also recognize that we are completely dependent upon His grace for our whole life and our entire Christian walk. We are sinners, beloved. There is not a moment that goes by that we can be without Christ, lest we perish. And that is what makes this day such a precious gift to us who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. This is the day, the one day of every week, the first day, in which we may enjoy the fellowship of our God in such a way that it carries us through the week, and through all our trials and sorrows. This is the day in which we may receive strength from on high, strength which comes in knowing our Savior walks with us and talks with us. And would we act as if we don't need this day?
THIS IS THE DAY IN WHICH THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED, AND I PREACH IT NOW TO YOU AND TO ME: "COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN OF ME; FOR I AM MEEK AND LOWLY IN HEART: AND YE SHALL FIND REST UNTO YOUR SOULS. FOR MY YOKE IS EASY, AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT" (Matthew 11:28-30).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God in human nature, labored through our sin and death, laying down His life on the cross of Calvary, to enter into the rest of God. That Christ now says to you and to me, "Come, come unto me." That is our need. If we recognize our need on this day, some of us may have to re-evaluate our lives with respect to the Sabbath. This day isn't made for our pleasure, i.e., not our earthly pleasure. It isn't. What does earthly pleasure have to do with entering into the fellowship of God? It doesn't. This day isn't made as a day to continue our earthly labor. It isn't. For the sake of devoting our entire focus to our spiritual labor of entering into the Sabbath rest, we are to set aside our normal labors. We are to be too busy in spiritual things, to have time for the earthly. Oh yes, we recognize that there are times when some work is necessary on the Lord's Day. But not as a normal practice which robs us of our necessary fellowship with God. There are times, to use the old figure, when the ox may fall into the ditch on the Lord's Day and require work from us which we wouldn't normally do because it takes us away from our chief focus of nurturing our spiritual life. That will happen, though on rare occasions. But if that ox repeatedly would rob us of our fellowship with God, we butcher the ox. And we don't take jobs that regularly rob us of fellowship with our Redeemer. So important is the continual nourishment of our spiritual life and our fellowship with God! We long for the rest which only He can provide through His appointed means of grace.
And with this approach of seeking God's glory, and placing priority upon the calling to enter into His rest, we begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. "He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul," we read in Proverbs 19:16. He keeps His soul in fellowship with His Redeemer, and therefore in the rest which shall finally find its culmination in everlasting glory. In that comfort we live in hope. We are Christ's! To Him we come in repentance. In Him we find forgiveness. Through Him we enjoy rest in the fellowship of God's covenant. May God give us grace, so that in our celebration of our Sabbath also today, we receive a foretaste of the everlasting Sabbath that awaits us.
Amen.
Preached: Randolph PRC 11/2/97 (am)
==========================
Return to the
Heidelberg Catechism Sermons page
Return to the Reformed
Literature page
Return to the Reformed Sovereign Grace Literature
Home Page